Dinosaurs on Parade

The last time robotic dinosaurs roamed the Earth at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, they became one of the most popular exhibits in museum history. Five years later, an expanded exhibit of audio-animatronic reptiles that can crane their necks or pretend to fight are back. Expect hordes of primates to follow.

The display of 14 robotic prehistoric creatures is interesting to kids of all ages because they’re dinosaurs, says Dave Whistler, curator of the “Dinosaurs!” exhibit.

The major attraction of these is that they are as lifelike as you can make them. The dinosaurs are set up to look as if they are interacting with one another. Whistler, a vertebrate paleontologist, finds himself engaged by the Apatosaurus mother, who swings her head, opens her mouth and blinks her eyes at you. A pair of Pachycephalosauruses appear to be dueling while a duck-billed dinosaur nurtures a nest of hatchlings. A pack of lizards attacked an iguana-like, 22-foot Tenontosaurus. From a child’s standpoint, the fascination with these will be that they are living and moving, says Whistler of the dinosaurs that can be as high as about 18 feet.

The exhibit that’s going to be scariest is three raptor-like animals that are attacking a plant-eating dinosaur. They’ve already got it on the ground, and they are killing it. Museum staff members also are trying to include as much educational material as they can. A paleontology laboratory with a real, living human will be working on a dinosaur specimen collected by the museum staff on a field expedition to Montana in 1968, Whistler says.

Budding scientists and their parents can get close enough to the staff member to ask questions and view the work in detail. (The staffer will be in residence Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and all day Sunday.)

Other displays include stations where children can make a rubbing of a model of a dinosaur skeleton and a dig box, which has bones embedded in it that children can try to expose. Casts of real dinosaur eggs, teeth and bones are set out for handling and photo opportunities are available next to a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops.

Visitors will be able to compare the animatronic dinosaurs with skeletons on display in the museum. They can compare living, almost breathing dinosaurs to what the real ones look like, Whistler says. That is if you can get the kids away from what is sure to be a hit--sticking their heads inside the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Several educational programs have been set up to coincide with the exhibit, including:

Paleontology of Palos Verdes and San Pedro: Screen for marine fossils with model maker for the habitats division. Learn about the paleontology of San Pedro, identify specimens and record the finds like real museum scientists, says Cathy Campbell, the museum’s public programs coordinator. 9:30 a.m. to noon, April 25. $20, members; $25, nonmembers.

Come Be a Paleo Kid: A paleontology research assistant will demonstrate a find, prepare and excavate fossils in the Discovery Center’s fossil dig pit. Children ages 4 and up will make their own piece of faux amber. 1:30 p.m., April 25. Free with museum admission.

Dinosaur Discovery School: Classes for preschool-age children accompanied by parents will feature hands-on exploration at the Discovery Museum on Mondays, when the museum galleries are closed to the public. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 23 for 3-year-olds; March 9 for 4-year-olds; March 23, 5-year-olds. Fee to be determined.

BE THERE

“Dinosaurs!” exhibit through May 17 at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd.; Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; open Feb. 16 for Presidents Day. Cost is $8 adults, $5.50 students 13 to 18 and seniors, $2 children 5 to 12; under 5 free. Call (213) 763-DINO for general information, (213) 763-3534 to register or for program information.